So you've renovated that home you bought nine months ago, and you're ready to sell. If all goes well, you'll make a nice profit over what you spent. But what if you could make even more? How about an extra $5,000? While the number varies and $5,000 is far from guaranteed, you'll definitely make more on the house if you stage it to sell. The best part is that staging is relatively simple, and can easily be done in a day or two, or even in just a few hours depending on the home. Why would anyone turn down such easy money? Here are a few home staging tips to increase your profits.

Clean it upHopefully you've done a pretty good job of keeping the house clean as you worked, or at least cleaned everything after you were done, but go ahead and check again. Make sure you get all of the dust out of the corners, and wipe any smudges off of the countertops. The smallest things can turn a potential buyer's smile into a bit of a frown. It may not even take you an hour to make sure the place is spotless, but it could result in a sale.

Curb appealYou've probably heard this term before. The attractiveness of the house from the street is one of the most important aspects of the house, because it is the first impression that the potential buyer gets, and sets the mood for the entire showing. Depending on the house, you may have focused on the inside and forgotten about the outside. That's ok, but before people start coming to see the place, make sure to mow and pick up anything that doesn't belong. Power-wash the sidewalk, even if it's supposed to be the city's responsibility. You may even need to do a little gardening.

SmellThe power of smell is often underrated. People tend to assume that smell is mostly permanent, so the way a house smells can be a deciding factor as to whether or not they are interested in making the purchase. If the house doesn't smell like anything, that's ok, but that's pretty unlikely. If you don't think it smells, bring in someone you trust who hasn't spent time in the house like you have, to see if there's a smell you've gotten used to. If the house has a bad odor to it, you should first try to get rid of it, but this is often very difficult. The next best thing is to cover it up with something. This can be something out of a spray can, flowers placed at strategic locations, or the old realtor's trick, baking cookies right before potential buyers arrive.

Make everything look niceChances are, the first thing the buyer will want to see will be the kitchen. It's ok to focus on that, and the pathway to it, but remember that any serious buyer will want to see everything before they even consider an offer. Check every closet and hidden corner of the house to make sure everything looks like it's supposed to. Maybe even bring in an honest friend to pretend like they're interested in the house and ask them to point out anything that might be a problem. Remember that someone thinking about buying the house is probably planning on living there for years, if not decades. Anything that is less than perfect will at least raise concern, but if everything is perfect, it will be very difficult for them to say no.

Looking for more help staging your house to sell? Contact us. We can help you with that, or any other step of the flipping process.

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